


Understanding Anna Spencer

by mysticaljayne



Series: More Entwined Than Thought [1]
Category: Leverage, Psych, Supernatural
Genre: F/M, Family Drama, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-24
Updated: 2016-11-24
Packaged: 2018-09-01 21:56:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8639671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mysticaljayne/pseuds/mysticaljayne
Summary: As a young girl, Anna Spencer never thought she would go down the path that she went. Her plans revolved around growing up, going to school, becoming a teacher, fight some demons, get married, and have a couple of babies. Those plans were thrown to the side by a rogue fireball. Then by a bullet. At the end...she only did a few of those things, and not in the order that she had originally planned.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was a story that originally wasn't going to be written for this series, but I wanted to give Eliot's mom a chance to defend her choices, or at least to explain why she did what she did.

A loud crash jerked the young girl from her dreams of unicorns and ice cream. Light from the hallway is just enough for her to make it through her room without tripping over toys that she was supposed to have put up before going to bed. She makes it to the hallway without a mishap and is careful to step over the creaky board just outside her room. Whenever there are loud noises downstairs, she’s supposed to hide in her room until dad, mom, or Junior come and get her.

 

Looking over to the other door and the other brunette looking her way, Jack wasn’t obeying the rule either. He’s older than Anna by a couple years, but he was the one most likely to bend the rules to suit him. Not saying that Anna never uses the fact she’s the baby girl to get out of trouble. She’s still looking over at Jack when he puts a finger to his lips to silently tell her to be just as silent.

 

She just rolls her eyes at her brother. She knows the rules as well as he does. Doesn’t mean that either of them were going to follow them.

 

Giving Jack a smile, she motions for him to follow her to the stairs. Anna doesn’t wait to see if he will, because she already knows that he can’t stay behind. The natural curiosity that the three Spencer kids had had the bad habit of getting them into trouble. Junior was learning how to curb it just a bit, but the younger two still leaned towards getting neck deep into trouble. The reason was probably because Junior was allowed to do more, while Anna and Jack were still being told to sit on the sidelines.

 

Not that doing so kept them from getting hurt.

 

Like all Natural Witches, the Spencer clan attracted evil. Unlike other Natural Witches, each of the Spencer family had a guide animal to help keep them on track. Their dad was a Meer cat, which didn’t sound as cool as some but made sense to those that knew Henry Spencer Sr. He was playful, while also loyal to his family. Senior was the kind of man that was watchful and hardworking at the same time. Similar to how Timone from The Lion King acted at times.

 

Junior, though, had a bloodhound as a representation of his soul. He was the stubborn one of them, even though all were stubborn at times. He held onto a trail at all costs, but would fail to divert from the path until there was absolutely nothing left for him to hold onto. Anna loved her eldest brother, but he was always the one that would find out whatever it was that they had gotten into. His stubbornness did get him into trouble, especially when it came to personal relationships.

 

Anna, though, had a bird as a symbol of her soul. Not just any bird, but a peregrine falcon. Her soul was the fastest animal in flight, and refused to be bound by the rules of the ground. Her mom told her that having such a soul was a great thing to have. She told her that the falcon would always push her to her limits of control, but not out of them.

 

That was her soul, until she saw what caused the crash that woke both her and Jack from sleep.

 

The scream tore from her throat in complete horror at the blood pooling around her mom, motionless on the floor. Both her dad and Junior were fighting off the creature that had caused such damage. Jack, seeing the sight just moments after her pulled her backwards and down as the energy ball came at her. Her scream had caught the attention of the thing attacking their family.

 

She didn’t see her eldest brother finally kill the creature while it was distracted with a broken piece of wood that had once been a table leg. She didn’t see her father put pressure on the freely flowing cut that Junior had on his head from being slammed into the table. She didn’t see Jack create the flying butterflies that had helped distract the creature from stomping on up the stairs, giving Junior time to vanquish it.

 

She didn’t see that then, but in her mind she was seeing it now. Her imagination was filling in the holes and painting an even more vivid picture than she ever could create in waking. In her mind, her mother’s blank eyes were staring at her, accusing her.

 

Of what? What was her mom blaming her for?

 

“Mom?” A young voice, one that Anna knew but couldn’t quite place, echoed through her mind. “Are you okay? Mom?”

 

Her eyes open to a dark room and it takes a few moments for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. She sees furniture that she bought with her husband a few years ago not long after their honeymoon. He’s a good man. A really good man to marry a woman with as much baggage as her. She came with a messed up family, no money, a young son, and no prospects for a better future when she met him.

 

“Mom?” Her eldest baby called to her from the doorway, already trying to appear bigger and older than he was at eight. “Are you okay?”

 

She regrets the next words even as they leave her mouth. “Where’s your brother?” Instinctively she had put more responsibility on the eldest as things in life went from heaven to hell.

 

He just stared at her, but she knew her eldest was way more observant than he let on. A gift, and a curse, from being a Spencer. Shawn was supposed to have it, at least that’s what she heard the last time she talked to her eldest brother.

 

“Safe.” Her eldest told her, which just dragged her away from her thoughts of bloodlines and gifts. He hadn’t shown any signs of having any, but that could just be because of how young he was.

 

Automatically her eyes scan the area for any signs of her youngest. He was only a couple of years younger than the eldest, but his signs were more obvious to those that knew how to look. Jason’s soul animal was colorful and bright, that also had the habit of flying into corners to listen in to conversations that he shouldn’t.

 

Anna nodded, though, at her eldest’s response. She didn’t see the colorful bird that was Jason’s symbol, but that could mean anything. Jason could actually be hiding like they told him to do if he ever heard yelling. There was no reason to make him be a target if they could keep him safe.

 

“Thank you.” Anna breathed out, already relaxing in a way that she hadn’t been able to do earlier. “I’m okay, Eliot. Really. Everything is fine. You can go on back to bed. Love you.”

 

Eliot turns and leaves as silently as he came. She still hadn’t seen his animal, but every so often she can see a shadow out of the corner of her eye. His soul… His soul must think of her as someone to be afraid of if it was taking such care to never be seen by her.

 

His soul saw her as a threat, and he hadn’t given the customary ‘I love you, too’ that he used to. He had changed, but what else could she expect?

 

Eliot hadn’t been the same since Eric, her husband, broke his arm in two places two years ago at the age of six. Her son had stepped in to try to protect her when Eric had knocked her unconscious to the ground. He hadn’t been able to look at any of the family the same afterwards.

 

She curled deeper into the covers, trying to forget how far her life changed from her dreams. Eliot wasn’t Eric’s, so maybe that’s why he was targeting him? Maybe?

 

Anna couldn’t let her mind go down that path. Eric was sorry about those things that he did. He really was. Even about the thing that he didn’t last month. He brought her flowers to apologize and took Eliot to a football game. He also to Jason, but that wasn’t the point. Eric was back to being the man that she knew and loved. Back to being the man that could take a joke and would dance with her in the kitchen.

 

He didn’t mean to lose her temper. It was just that she shouldn’t have spoken too loud and Eliot shouldn’t have stepped in. Eliot shouldn’t have brought attention to himself these last few times. He knew how Eric felt about him and should know how tenuous his place here was.

 

Because he wasn’t Eric’s, and Eric just couldn’t seem to get over that. At first it had been small things, but now? Now it becoming even more obvious.

 

But Eric loved Eliot. He did. He just loved him differently than he loved Jason. There was nothing wrong with that. Nothing wrong at all.

 

People love each of their children differently. It was normal. Right?


	2. Chapter 2

“I think we need a vacation.” Eric told Anna out of the blue the day after school let out for the summer. They had talked about the family going on a trip away from the hardware store and her veterinarian job. It would be good for the boys, but they hadn’t decided definitely on one way or another.

 

Jason suddenly looks up with a large smile on his face. “Are we going to grandma and grandpa’s?” His face was bright just as suddenly as Eliot’s face fell. Eric’s parents treated her eldest son like an outsider, even though Eliot had been only a year old when their families had joined.

 

Eric is nodding at Jason, and bending down to his height. “Yes, Jace. We’re heading north to grandma and grandpa’s. Cousin Amanda is going to be there.”

 

Out of the corner of her eye, Anna saw Eliot shrink even further into his seat. Amanda is about the same age as Eliot, but had a skunk for a soul animal. She didn’t know the whole story behind what happened last time, except Eliot avoided the girl like the plague.

 

“Anna.” Eric called to her. “Anna.” He repeated, when she didn’t answer on the first call. “Can I talk to you in the other room?”

 

Anna nodded, putting down the towel she had been using to dry the dishes from this morning’s breakfast. “Of course.” She followed Eric out into the hallway, just out of reach of listening ears. Though, based on the fluttering in the corner, maybe not as out of reach as Eric thinks.

 

Jason has the gift. Anna still hasn’t decided if that was a good thing or not.

 

“My parents don’t want Eliot there.” Eric jumped straight to the point, putting into words whatever it was that had been bothering him the last few days. “With Amanda coming in…”

 

“Eric.” Anna forced out, shocked and yet not at this turn of events. “What are you talking about? He’s our son. Shouldn’t…”

 

“Your son.” Eric corrected. Anna saw the bird flinch and she knew that Jason knew everything that her husband was saying. “They just think that since they’re around the same age that it wouldn’t be appropriate for both Amanda and Eliot to stay at the house. Considering that they aren’t family.”

 

Anna took tight control of her anger. At his parents’ house he wouldn’t dare lay a hand on any of them. Even his parents looked down at someone harming others under their roof. “He’s been a part of your family since he was baby.”

 

Her words don’t even seem to register with him, because he keeps talking as though she hadn’t spoken up at all. “We figure that he can stay at one of your brothers’ places. Since, you know, after your dad’s passing last month. It’d be good for him.”

 

“But, Eric.” Anna started, but didn’t get to finish before he was already moving towards the bedroom doors. Most likely their clothes were already packed. Eric had probably planned this earlier without saying anything. He was controlling like that.

 

She forced a smile when she came back into the kitchen where her two boys were sitting. She patted Jason on the shoulder, “Grab whatever you want to take to grandma’s.” The younger boy took off, a mixture of sadness and disappointment in his step.

 

He loved his grandparents, but couldn’t understand why they didn’t love his big brother.

 

Eliot, though, merely looked down at his clasped hands in his lap. “Where am I going?” He sounded resigned, and it had Anna go back over the memory of the room where Eric had talked to her at. She hadn’t sense any other soul animal, but maybe his had been hiding?

 

Did Eliot have the gift, but just wasn’t telling her?

 

“Uncle Henry’s.” Anna told him, and he still just nodded. He’d never been to her eldest brother’s place, but still he didn’t question it. “Jason will be safe at grandpa’s.”

 

Eliot just shrugged before hopping on down and heading to his shared room with Jason. Anna looked around the kitchen, looking for some kind of sign as to what to do. Should she call Henry? They hadn’t talked in years. He may even refuse to watch him. What would she do then? She couldn’t take Eliot back to her in-law’s. She couldn’t.

 

So she didn’t call.

 

Anna helped the two boys pack their things into the back of the SUV. Eric smiled her way as he put the rest of their bags in. The plan was to take a detour past Santa Barbara to drop Eliot off at Henry’s. There he would be safe. Her brother’s soul had been a bloodhound the last time she saw him, and bloodhounds don’t change very often. He would be safe with him. He had to be.

 

It took hours to get there, but no amount of preparing could stop the shredding of her heart at seeing the twelve-year-old sitting alone on the porch steps. Henry should be home from work soon. Or at least his son should be. Shawn is only a little younger than Jason, and Santa Barbara was still in school this week.

 

“He’ll be fine.” Eric told her. She forced another smile, because she knew that was what he wanted. He wanted her to believe him. To believe IN him.

 

Looking in the mirror, she locks gazes with her youngest. He quickly turns away, but she can still see the way his soul animal, a parrot at the moment, was staring at her accusingly. An undistinguished shadow moved next to him, but she couldn’t figure out what it was.

 

Two hours later, when Henry called her for the first time in seven years, she felt every word he said pierce the armor she had around her heart. He was merely putting into words what she herself was feeling. She shouldn’t have left him alone on the doorstep.

 

But she had to. Where else could he stay?

 

It takes three years, and nearly dying, before she can come up with a different answer.


	3. Chapter 3

Alcohol. Alcohol is what Anna needed to forget. First her mom when they were kids and now it was nearly Junior. At least this time it hadn’t been demons, but that made things worse. He had been nearly killed by a _human_. Yes, a human of all creatures. Why did he have to go into the service field? Why? Didn’t their family serve enough already? Hadn’t they lost enough?

 

She used her fake ID to get into the bar that had seen much better days. The patrons here weren’t here for a good time but for something to help them to forget. The other patrons were years older than her, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. She needed to forget. She needed to stop the emotions that were tearing her apart inside.

 

She nearly lost her eldest brother. By a bullet. If he had been just a split second slower…if he hadn’t had to grow up the way they had… if his healing abilities hadn’t…

 

A man with shadows in his eyes that could rival her own takes the seat beside her. He nods her way, already recognizing a kindred spirit. He was older, but not by much. Maybe five years, tops. Anyway, she didn’t feel like being picky tonight. She just needed a warm body to remind her what it was like to be alive.

 

Anna raises a finger to signal for the bartender to bring her another of her order and one more of her seat partner. “Anna.” She introduces herself with a salute of the bottle.

 

It gets his attention, and that’s really all she wanted. “Gibbs.” He nods back at her with his name. The name is unique. At least not something that she was expecting. Something like John had been her guess, but she wasn’t a telepath, just the daughter of witch with shaman blood.

 

Shaman blood… That reminds her to actually focus in on the soul creatures around her, specifically on the man’s in front of her. A soul animal could tell you who the person really was inside. Like all animals, having one or another wasn’t a sign of evil or good, but merely a sign of preferences.

 

His though…his was of some type of bird with too sharp eyes that saw way too much. If he had any shaman blood at all, he would be able to converse with his creature and see even more than he already did. As it was, Gibbs probably had the ability to read people very well, or at least have really great long distance vision that he uses very often.

 

“My bed is open.” Anna cut straight to the chase, already wanting to get rid of the not so fun dancing around before getting to the punch. Today wasn’t the day for such games. “In case you wanted to fill it.”

 

To say the man looked shocked would be an understatement, but she mostly could tell that through the slight ruffling of his soul animal. The animal didn’t look pleased, but the man? The man was looking desperate for something to help him forget as much as she did.

 

He looks down at his left hand, and she follows his gaze to a wedding band. Uh oh. Did she really read him that wrong? Was she really willing to go home with a married man? Was she?

 

He pulls the band off and puts it in his pocket before looking at her, his sharp eyes eerily similar to that of his animal’s. “I’m not opposed.”

 

Anna finishes her drink in one swallow. “Good. Let’s go.” She motions for the military cut man to follow her on out the bar that had seen better days.

 

She was merely serving her country...just differently than how her brother served the public. Why couldn’t she have a little bit of fun to forget?

 

That fun had cost her, and now her son was wanting to go and serve. Her seventeen-year-old son that had the same eyes as that man in the bar.

 

“Don’t go.” Anna called to him. It had taken her years to finally divorce her husband and move all of the way to Kentucky to use her degree with horses, but she had done it. She just hadn’t thought her eldest would be so quick to move on after getting here.

 

He pauses on his way out the door, before turning back to her with a smile. “I have to help, mom. You know that.” His animal still hid from her, but she’s been able to see more pieces of it since moving out here. “You and Jason are fine here. Especially with Aimee and her dad nearby.” His soul animal was mostly that of a timber wolf. Mostly, because his soul still changed. All soul’s change, but his did a bit more often than the average person’s.

 

Aimee was a wonderful girl, and Anna hoped that things would work out between her son and the young woman. It would be great to be able to add a daughter to her sons. Aimee would be a good daughter to her, a good sister for Jason, and a great wife for Eliot.

 

Oh, but how she wishes that Eliot would stay close to them. “I still want you home.”

 

Eliot laughed before pulling her into a hug. “I’ll be home before you know it, mom. Love you.” He waved before getting on the bus to head to base camp.

 

Anna finally felt as if her life was where it should be. That things were finally coming together in the way that they were supposed to. Eliot was following his heart. Jason was doing well in school and making friends. Anna, herself, was finally talking to her brothers again. Demons still didn’t know what they were. Things were finally falling into place.

 

She didn’t know that in six months Eliot would be MIA. She didn’t know that Aimee would fall for a drifter that came through town not long after that. She didn’t know that in two years Jason would head north to a school where he would meet the woman he eventually marries. She didn’t know that her sons’ gifts, the gifts that she tried so hard to keep hidden from them, would draw all manner of evil to them.

 

She didn’t know that for one, the gifts would turn him into a weapon that would take years before he learned how to pull his own trigger again. And for the other? The gifts would draw all manner of evil that wouldn’t stop until his blood soaked the ground.

 

His smile actually lacks the shadows that she had gotten used to seeing over the years. The past three years have given time for the shadows to finally fade away. She just hopes that him throwing himself into harm’s way won't bring them back.


End file.
